Ubud Writers & Readers Festival Podcast

From the outspoken Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict to Ella Deloria, the Dakota Sioux activist who preserved the traditions of Native Americans on the Great Plains, their revolutionary findings gave birth to cultural anthropology. Join Charles King, author of Gods of the Upper Air, to learn more about the radical ideas and passionate lives of these adventurous pioneers.

Lives Between the Lines is a family story of Michael Vatikiotis’s grandparents and parents in the Levant, spanning from the mid-1800s to the end of the Second World War in 1945. Once a place of ethnic harmony and pluralistic tradition their lives eventually became caught up in the conflict between clashing faiths and contested identity. Michael Vatikiotis speaks to Kelly Falconer about his fascina...

How do we endure loss and find meaning in our lives? Ruth Ozeki’s The Book of Form and Emptiness is a heart-breaking and humane tale, considered as a powerful meditation that contains the chaos of the world, while giving it meaning. Ruth speaks to Desi Anwar about her poignant novel that blends jazz with climate change and attachment to material possessions.

Greatly affected by the tragic Sewol Ferry incident of 2014, when more than 300 Koreans, mainly schoolchildren, lost their lives, Kim Hyesoon composed Autobiography of Death, a cycle of forty-nine poems – one for each day the dead must await reincarnation – to produce a deeply moving work for the children lost to this disaster. Kim speaks to Sonia Piscayanti about how we give a voice to death and...

Known as the world’s village, Ubud has shifted its image throughout the years. For decades, everything local and traditional has been fused with a cosmopolitan and international perspective. So, what about Ubud today? In the midst of the intertwined transformation of times, especially during the pandemic, is it still the world’s village? How do the Ubud Palace define the region?

Since 2007, Mayank Austen Soofi has been documenting Delhi’s everyday life. During the city’s most desperate COVID-19 moments, he collected images and heartfelt stories of the people’s collective grief. Joshua Irwandi shadowed hospital workers and pandemic victims in Jakarta and is responsible for the photo that stopped a nation in its tracks. Rio Helmi* talks to them about the power of pictures w...

The leading authority of forest medicine in Japan, Dr. Qing Li, shares stories with a world-renowned tree scientist, ecologist, educator, and conservationist, Meg Lowman ‘Canopy Meg’. The two experts will be joined by Suzy Hutomo to talk about the life-changing power of trees and the importance of forests, at a time when we are returning to nature, more than ever, for health and happiness.

In his latest book, Magdalena: River of Dreams, Davis tells of his travels on this magnificent river, the source of Colombian music, literature, poetry, and prayer and, in doing so, tells the epic story of a people who have overcome years of conflict precisely because of their enduring spirit. Tim Hannigan speaks to Wade Davis about his deep love of a land that is home to the greatest ecological a...

Poets Emily Sun and Felix K. Nesi are powerful emerging voices in the literary communities of Australia and Indonesia, respectively. Their poetries consider the personal and political impacts of imperialism, colonialism, and capitalism on individuals and communities across the two nations. Join them for a conversation that will delve into poetry’s unique potential to address politics.

When a global health crisis closes borders between and within countries, does literature’s potential to transport people to new places take on greater significance? David Allan-Petale, whose debut novel, Locust Summer, was drafted in Ubud and completed while travelling around Australia in a caravan, will be joined by Agustinus Wibowo to discuss travel as a source of creative inspiration and the ch...

Australia’s First Nations people are the country’s first memory holders and storytellers. However, their stories are often left unheard. Join three First Nations writers, Elfie Shiosaki, Jarrad Travers, and Cass Lynch, as they come together to discuss the power of language, storytelling, and poetry in capturing testimonies and rebuilding communities.

Jennifer Mackenzie’s collection of poetry, Navigable Ink, is based on her contact with the famous Indonesian author, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, in 1993, when his works were banned and he was under house arrest in Jakarta. This rare and heartfelt poetic exploration of Toer’s work, captures his fight for gender equality, free speech, non-discrimination, and freedom, issues that are now more crucial than...

In her new book, We Have a Dream, Mya-Rose Craig looks at issues from wildlife conservation to clean water and plastic waste, to climate justice and climate strikes, reinforcing that the time has come to listen to a generation of young people of colour demanding urgent change for the world they will inherit. Join Mya-Rose Craig ‘Birdgirl’ as she speaks to fellow climate activist, Clover Hogan, abo...

At the age of twenty, after a traumatic sexual assault trial, Kathryn Heyman ran away from her life and became a deckhand on a fishing trawler in the Timor Sea. The power of words became her salvation. Called a memoir of ‘righteous anger and poetic transformation’, Fury, is a reflection on the wider stories of class and growing up female with all its risks and rewards, of courage and determination...

Vincent Bevins’ bold and comprehensive debut work, The Jakarta Method, highlights his incisive reporting for The Washington Post and uses declassified documents and eyewitness testimony to reveal a shocking legacy that spans the globe.

In Semut, Christine Helliwell shares the story of an Australian secret military operation launched into the remote jungled heart of the Japanese-occupied island of Borneo, in the final months of World War II. Join her in conversation with Stephen Smith, as she shares the lives and traditions of the Dayaks in this unique account of two very different cultures.

Australian politician and academic Anne Aly, award-winning children’s author Meg McKinlay, and documentary filmmaker Victoria Midwinter Pitt are all three exceptional women of widely different backgrounds. They have come together to bring their personal stories and experiences of heartbreak, empathy, and despair. If you are wondering about the power of your emotions, this is a conversation not to...

In Phosphorescence, Julia Baird immerses herself in nature to explore friendships, family, loss, and illness, to seek the inner light that brightens our lives in the darkest times. In The Art of Solitude, Desi Anwar writes about navigating a peaceful path to add meaning to our lives. Join them in conversation with Gillian O’Shaughnessy to share their illuminating journey of self-reflection.

Celebrated Indonesian author Ayu Utami, a pioneer of women’s erotica in Indonesia, along with Fogarty Award-winner Rebecca Higgie, will share stage and screen with Professor Krishna Sen to explore the use of mythical characters and magic realism in Australian and Indonesian literature. How can these literary tools help us reveal and investigate personal and national histories?

Struggling to maintain grace and good humour amidst daily potholes and pitfalls? Author and essayist Brigid Lowry maybe just the warm, wise, and witty companion you need. To start the day with a positive vibe, she will be joined by musician Michael Done to explore how wisdom, gratitude, and loving-kindness to ourselves and others can help us thrive.

In The Nutmeg’s Curse, Amitav Ghosh shares how Western colonialism and exploitation in the Banda Islands, Maluku, is the origin of climate change’s current dynamics. Hilmar Farid, the Director-General of Indonesia’s Ministry of Education and Culture, joins Amitav to discuss colonial history and spices, acknowledging the role that spices, like nutmeg, have played in the country’s national developme...

What is the future of travel writing in the 21st century? In his book, The Travel Writing Tribe, Tim Hannigan asked this question as he sets out on humorous mini-adventures to meet the world’s most acclaimed travel writers. In the era of social media and COVID-19, can travel writing survive? And is it simply a craft of white privileged men?

Multatuli’s book Max Havelaar is a powerful indictment of colonialism in the Dutch East Indies. Inspired by his fight for equality, Project Multatuli is a public journalism organization that expose injustices and the voices of the suffering. The founders of Project Multatuli, Evi Mariani and Todung Mulya Lubis speak to Debra Yatim about the values of humanism and ethical journalism.

The Lasalaga Project is Louis Buana’s research of the ancient legend of Lasalaga, the fierce ruler of Mamuju, West Sulawesi. Of Balinese-Sulawesi heritage, Lasalaga’s story highlights the harmonious relationship between two different ethnicities and cultures. In an attempt to reach a wide audience, the reinterpretation of this legend combines traditional Kamasan art with new media, as well as, the...

How do we interpret the development of literary works in Indonesia lately? Indonesian established and emerging writers, Rio Johan, Inggit Putria Marga, and Wayan Sumahardika, elaborate on the issues in Indonesian literature and the current standard that is free and rapid. They will join Ramayda Akmal in discussing the development on speech, themes, and standards of writing in Indonesia.